Just one Tasmanian for AFL draft combine

A BUOYANT period for potential Tasmanian draftees looks to have fallen as quickly as it soared, with only one player invited to the AFL draft combine.

A BUOYANT period for potential Tasmanian draftees looks to have fallen as quickly as it soared, with only one player invited to the AFL draft combine.

Seven players attended last year, with North-West draftees Brady Gray, Alex Pearce and Eli Templeton among the six that subsequently found themselves on an AFL list.

LIMITED: Tasmanian Brady Grey, of Burnie, competes in last year's under 18s championship for the Apple Isle. Only one Tasmanian has been asked to attend the 2014 AFL Draft Combine. Picture: Getty Images.

However, only Lauderdale’s Josh McGuiness made the cut this year in the aftermath of the state’s poor showing at the national under-18 championships.

McGuiness averaged 26 possessions in his three games, with his disposal efficiency off half-back a highlight.

Burnie’s Caleb Hislop leads a group of North-West hopefuls that missed out on a berth at the four-day event in October.

Western Storm midfielder Tim Jones also failed to gain a berth despite averaging 31 touches a game through the championships.

AFL Tasmania high performance manager Matthew Armstrong said while he would have liked to have seen a few more players get a berth, the AFL dream was not entirely lost.

‘‘A lot of the states now are doing there own combines, and I’ll find out on Wednesday of the group of players that the AFL clubs want to see at our combine,’’ he said.

‘‘I’m hoping they’ll catch up with them here, but I would have liked one or two more at the AFL combine to be honest.’’

Queensland and New South Wales/ACT earned 19 invites out of the 96, including former North-West junior, Lachlan Weller.